Preparation

Make meatballs:

In a 9-inch heavy well-seasoned skillet (preferably cast-iron) cook onion and bell pepper in 2 tablespoons oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened and cool mixture. In a large bowl combine well onion mixture, ground meat, bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, and parsley. Form level tablespoons of mixture into balls (about 90). In skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown meatballs in batches (about 16 at a time), shaking skillet frequently so that meatballs maintain their shape and adding remaining 3 tablespoons oil as necessary. Transfer meatballs with a slotted spoon as browned to a bowl.

make sauce:

In a heavy kettle (at least 6 quarts) cook garlic in oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add tomatoes with juice and oregano and simmer, breaking up tomatoes.

Add meatballs and simmer, covered, gently stirring occasionally, 25 minutes, or until meatballs are tender and sauce is thickened slightly. Transfer meatballs with slotted spoon to heated serving dish. If sauce seems thin, boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened to desired consistency. Season sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over meatballs. Meatballs and sauce may be made 2 days ahead, cooled, uncovered, and chilled, covered. Reheat meatballs before serving.

SELECT LATEST REVIEWS

I was not impressed with this. It seemed like a lot of work for a recipe that wasn't anything special. I think purchasing meatballs and a jar of spaghetti sauce might be a more interesting and flavorful alternative to this messipe.

jboitx from Houston, TX / 12.26.10

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Since the reviews of the meatballs themselves were lukewarm, I just used frozen meatballs. I tried turkey meatballs, and beef cocktail meatballs. Both worked great. Just threw them in frozen and let them cook for 30-35 minutes. The sauce by itself makes for a super easy and satisfying appetizer.

johnwei from Los Gatos, CA / 01.14.10

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Really not so good. Found these to be rather flavorless. They smelled great when cooking, but they were a huge disappointment.

A Cook from Boston, MA / 01.02.09

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This recipe is great due to the fresh parsley and use of everything organic. Also, I recommend adding in some red table wine while cooking the sauce, letting it reduce.

fisher987 from Houston, TX / 02.18.08

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Time consuming and not a tasty dish. disappointing..

A Cook from san diego, ca / 09.13.05

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I made this for a tapas party I catered, and while the guests approved, I thought the texture of the meatballs was lacking(maybe I should have heeded previous reviewers advice to add an egg white to bind). Overall the dish lacked a kick

A Cook from Atlanta, GA / 08.01.04

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We made this as part of a tapas party. Made them the night before. Browned them in the oven and warmed them in the sauce. We used more pork and less beef (the beef was lean and the pork was not, we reversed them). We covered them for the night. Come party time, we heated the whole thing up again.

A Cook from Colorado springs / 06.03.04

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My family really likes these meatballs. I also don't brown them first. Instead I cook them in the microwave. This saves time & mess & draws out some of the fat. Making half a recipe, I nuke them for about 10 minutes, then with a slotted spoon transfer the balls to the sauce to simmer till done. Delish!

A Cook from Massachusetts / 12.31.03

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A huge hit at my most recent dinner party. I too skipped using the fying pan and put the meatballs straight into the sauce for about 1.5 hrs.

A Cook from New York, NY / 04.28.03

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not a bad recipe thanks to much of the advice from below. i used really lean ground turkey and an egg white to bind the mixture and lightly baked the meatballs. afterwards, i let the meatballs cook longer in the sauce. i actually omitted the oil from the sauce and used the liquid that was in with the whole canned tomatoes, added some fresh chopped tomatoes and a little bit of tomato paste. turned out really well. i'd keep this recipe on hand.